Save the world with Google PowerMeter

Google PowerMeter

Smart grids are the future. They allow us to monitor our electricity usage to great detail and are even smart enough to turn household electric appliances on or off, to coincide with peak energy times.

But what if we were suddenly given access to real-time information about the energy we're using in our home? By showing us exactly how much energy we are using and how it is being used, it would surely become easier to start making reductions. And by using less energy we are producing less CO2, which means we are helping to save the planet from the disastrous effects of global warming.

Philanthropic Google

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the internet monster, have developed the Google PowerMeter that gives us the opportunity to do just that. The company, as part of an effort with the Climate Group, Natural Resources Defense Council and GE urged governments to provide real-time access to home energy information, in a message at leaders attending climate talks in Copenhagen, as reported by Industry.bnet.com.

Other participants in the pro-consumer energy information group includes appliance maker Whirlpool, venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, chipmaker Intel and the US Green Building Council.

Jens Redmer, the Director for Business Development at Google, says that the company are aiming to "empower users to get more access to information" through their technology. Google PowerMeter is a free electricity usage monitoring tool that provides energy users with information on how much energy your home is consuming, the application receives information from utility smart meters and in-house energy management devices and then displays this information on a personalized Google homepage.

Engage deeper with customers

Google have established a number of pilot agreements with utility companies and device manufacturers, and it is these as well as the consumer that can benefit from working with Google on this project. In an interview with MeetTheBoss.tv Editor-in-Chief Adam Burns, Redmer insists that, through working with Google, utilities are able to engage much deeper with their customers.

So far Google have managed to sign up eight large utilities and smart meter manufacturer Itron.

Although Redmer admits it's still too early to draw any significant conclusions from the pilot scheme, he did say that so far the external and internal pilots carried our had produced positive results.

Click here to check out the full interview between Adam Burns and Google Director of Business Development Jens Redmer, along with many other excellent and insightful industry based interviews at MeetTheBoss.com.

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